A Simplified Fabrication Method of Dielectrophoresis Chip Using Au Thin-Film and Box Cutter

Abstract

We propose fabrication method of a planar quadrupole microelectrode for dielectrophoresis (DEP), which is fabricated by Au thin-film, ion coater and box cutter. This method is more cost effective and simpler than previous existing methods. We conducted two experiments for confirming usefulness of the Au DEP chip. Those are separation of yeast cells and trap force of DEP. To separate yeast cells, we used viable and non-viable cells. DEP force arises when an inhomogeneous AC electric field and sine wave frequency were applied to microelectrode. The Au DEP chip is able to distinguish between viable and non-viable cells and separate them by frequency dependence and the flow with Syringe pump. The chip can obtain viable cells which were trapped without contact to the microelectrode. The viable cells can use for fusion or cell culture. Furthermore, we carried out another experiment to investigate the trap force. The trap force of Negative-DEP becomes gradually weak when the frequency increases with 0.1, 0.5 and 1MHz. We were able to confirm relation between trap force and frequency by the Au DEP chip. The trap force has frequency dependence. Through the two experiments, we have established usefulness of the Au DEP chip.

Cellular Temperature Measurement by Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement Method

“…Gold (Au) was coated onto it by using an ion coater and subsequently rodshaped double electrodes were created. The gap between electrodes was created using a box cutter [4]. The gap width is about 20 �m and electrode width is about 500 �m.…”

“…That is expected in various applications such as a field of biology, medicine, food and beverage, and environment. In medical field the method can test whether the cell is normal or not with little amount of sample [4].…”

Cellular Thermal Measurement by Dielectrophoresis and the Impedance Changing between Electrodes

“…Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is developed recently, and there are a lot of applications and methods. For example, it can sort yeast cell which is viable and non-viable cell by DEP force [3]. This is because viable and non-viable cell has different frequency dependence for different permittivity and conductivity.…”

Combination of Au Dielectrophoresis Chip and Optical Tweezers for Cell Culture

“…These methods have various issues such as long-term culture and cell invasion. On the other hand, dielectrophoresis (DEP) can distinguish between viable and non-viable cells by their movement through a non-uniform electric field [2,3]. Therefore, DEP doesn't need dye test for characterization.…”